ONE FC 4: FIRST CARD ANNOUNCEMENTS

Six weeks out, ONE FC is beginning to announce matches that will make up their freshman debut in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on June 23rd.  Originally scheduled for late April, then May, the date was pushed back to June due to elections and logistics.

First bout announced:
Babalu Sobral (36-9) versus Tatsuya Mizuno (11-7)

ONE FC is beginning to flesh out the light heavyweight division with some remarkable talent.  Following a highly anticipated clash between Melvin Manhoef and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi that ended up a no-contest due to mutually received leg cuts, here come two more apt entries.

ONE FC ANNOUNCES MALAYSIAN TV DEAL WITH ASTRO, NEW EVENTS

Beyond its partnership with ESPN STAR Sports, ONE FC has announced a media deal that will further increase its footprint in Asia.  Malaysia's major broadcast company Astro has purchased the exclusive rights to air ONE FC events on its sports channel Arena.  Out of ten sports channels offered by Astro (including ESPN and STAR Sports), Arena is the channel to showcase and develop local Malaysian sports, with roughly one-third of its programming dedicated to such:

The channel will deliver 700 hours of live, local sports a year, with an additional 2000 hours of replays greatly expanding the amount of local sports available in the country. It will also provide coverage of up to 56 hours a week of Malaysians competing at international level or the best in world sports of particular interest to a Malaysian audience. All of this commentated in Bahasa Malaysia.

ONE FC has its first Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia event scheduled on May 26th.  While ONE FC stated this show is to accommodate Arena's broadcast schedule, the promoter has confirmed that it is still in the planning process of what this will entail.  If viewers in Malaysia can watch the event live and commentated in Bahasa, it will be a fantastic regional breakthrough for MMA.  With Raymond Tiew and Peter Davis representing Malaysia in ONE FC, and BJJ pioneer in Malaysia Marcos Escobar set to make his professional MMA debut with the organization, ONE FC has already begun to establish a local fan base to fuel future viewership of Arena broadcasts.  The country has a burgeoning MMA scene as developed by Ultimate MMA Academy's "Ultimate Beatdown" events, and MuayFit's sponsored "Malaysian Fighting Championships", held six and five times respectively.

FIGHTERS WANTED: Malaysia reality TV

FIGHTERS WANTED: via Antonio Graceffo from Facebook for Muayfit. This is short notice, but for those of you interested, tryouts for a pilot for Malaysia's first MMA reality TV show will be held October 22, at Muayfit in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Contact Muayfit on Facebook to register.

Living the MMA Dream (Muayfit)

Malaysia’s First MMA Reality TV Show

If you like the Contender Asia, but you’re a fan of MMA, then you’ll love “Living the MMA Dream” a new reality based MMA show, sponsored by Muayfit in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

And best of all, YOU have a chance to be on the show. Just register for the open selections, come down, train and fight your butt off and show us that you got heart. Many will come, but only 8 will be chosen for the full season of the show.

The pilot episode of Season One will cover the selection process. ANYONE interested in being in the show, and trying for one of 8 spots which could lead to a professional MMA contract, come to Muay Fit Studio, at 12 Noon (12 SHARP not Malaysian time) on Saturday, October 22.

The filming will start almost immediately as the shows two coaches/hosts Antonio Graceffo, of Martial Arts Odyssey, and Peter Hugh Davis, an MMA title holder and instructor, put all of the prospective tough guys through the physical ringer, with five consecutive hours of exercise, followed by striking sparring and grappling sparring. Along the way, if the coaches see someone slacking or giving up, they will be sent home.

If you vomit or pass out, but then get up again, that’s the spirit we’re looking for.

In the sparring, we aren’t looking for winners. In fact, we don’t want you to knockout or hurt your opponent. We are looking for guys who, after five hours of exercise, still have the heart and the will to keep fighting.

Even if you have NO martial arts skill, you still may be chosen.

We can teach you to fight. But we can’t give you heart. We’re looking for people with heart and courage.

This first episode will air on the internet, so all of your friends can see it. It will also be the proof that we take to the TV network to convince them to pick up the show. When the show gets picked up, the 8 winners will have a guaranteed place. We will also have wild card spots.

Living the MMA Dream can help you live your MMA dream. The show will be watched by people around the world. That kind of exposure can lead you anywhere you want to go, IF YOU HAVE THE HEART!

Contact Muayfit on facebook to pre-register.